Videon or Vide-gone
For a long time (ever since I've been in Auckland) my preferred video store has been Videon. No matter where in Auckland I have lived, I have always used them. They've a great range (more than just block busters) and really well informed staff.
Recently, the moved from 654 Dominion Road in Balmoral to 244 Dominion Rd, Mt Eden
It's a move of only about 1.5 Km, but I worry about the impact it will have on the business.
Here are some of the reasons why I think the move might be less than successful for Videon:
- When we visited the store on Saturday only one other person came into to browse while we where there. In the old location, at a similar time, I would have expected around a dozen or more customers.
- The new store is almost invisible from the street. The store is now very narrow and provides little street appeal. The signage—what there is—looks unappealing and doesn't echo the previous location's style. We nearly walked straight past the store even though we were looking for it.
- Inside, the store is very long an narrow. There is little room to browse (which is worrying given that it was just my wife and I for most the time). There is no ambiance; it feels very sterile. The fit-out of the store is looks cheap. In fact, our impression that from the outside that it was a cheap DVD outlet store was reinforced by the inside.
- Although we decided to walk to the store, parking seems to be a problem when compared to the old store. At the old store, Videon had its own parking and it was relatively easy to find street parking. This isn't the case in the new location.
Now it may be that the extra foot traffic will compensate for the invertible drop off in customers (who can't be bothered to go the extra distance). But I'm not sure. Perhaps the managers at Videon have examined their records and know how many people were very local to the store and how many are actually travelling some distance to the store (and thus may not be bothered by a little extra distance). I don't know.
What I do know, is that the store didn't feel "alive' and that might be fatal. This move could be the end of Videon. It may be Vide-gone.